U.S. Military Should Set Sights on Real Enemy

• CIA cooperation with drug cartels a dangerous threat to the future of the United States

By Keith Johnson

America’s war on drugs has been a catastrophicfailure plagued with corruptionscandals, unfulfilled promises and billionsof taxpayer dollars wasted on a futile attempt to curb the flow of illegal narcoticsinto the United States. But could 2013 mark the beginningof a new era in which the United States military finally makes a sincere effort to address the clearand present danger emanating from just south ofthe border?

The new training is reportedly set to take place at the U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM)in Colorado Springs, Colorado,and will expand on an existing program that schools Mexican military, intelligence and law enforcementofficials on U.S. counter-terrorism tactics.

Pursuant to an authorization by outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, the lieutenantcolonel who currently oversees the operation willbe replaced by a general, and the number of people assigned to the new headquarters is expected togrow from 30 to 150.

Anonymous U.S. officials who spoke with AP “stress that sharing this expertise does not meanU.S. special operations teams will be conductingraids against targets in Mexico,” since Mexican law forbids U.S. armed forces from operating insidetheir country.

Although this may sound like a move in the right direction, there are still plenty of reasons to remainskeptical.

It should be noted that USNORTHCOM’s trainingmissions are made possible through the Mérida Initiative of 2008, a $1.6B military aid package that was introduced during the Bush administration, and part and parcel of the Security and Prosperity Partnership’s (SPPs) plan to merge the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with amilitarized tri-national homeland security force.Under this arrangement, Mexico was required to adopt and maintain an aggressive counter-narcotic,counter-terrorism and border security strategy thatadheres to a strict military model.

The six-year military crackdown on Mexico’s drug traffickers is certainly a testament to thisagenda. However, “Theevidence of policy failure is undisputed: 47KMexicans dead since President Felipe Calderón took office in December 2006; the continuing flowof hundreds of tons of cocaine and thousands of tons of marijuana into the United States despitepost-9-11 border controls and anti-immigration fences; and more than $20B in drug cash and many thousands of U.S. guns streaming south into Mexico each year,” writes Fulton T. Armstrong, senior fellow at American University’s Center for Latin American and Latino Studies.

In December 2012, newlyelected Mexican President EnriquePena Nieto vowed to continuefighting all illegal drug productionand trafficking in Mexico, but stressed that he will focus moreon protecting ordinary citizens from gang violencerather than targeting drug cartel leaders.

This strategy could be seen by some as a departure from the accepted agenda and might explainwhy the U.S. is now offering advancedcounter-terrorism training to their semi-reluctant ally. But even if Mexico’s new administration ispersuaded to conform lockstep with U.S. objectives, will that really stem the tide of narcoticspouring into the U.S.?

During an August 2012 interview with this AMERICAN FREE PRESS reporter, former Drug Enforcement Administration agent Mike Levine stated,“The CIA and other intelligence agencies, rightdown to the Partnership for a Drug Free America,have a vested interest in maintaining a global drugproblem. That’s what they live for. They pretty much rely on drug proceeds to fund their operations.”

History shows time and again that the U.S. ismore concerned about “managing” the drug tradethan actually fighting it and will often protect major drug traffickers who act as informants against lesssignificant rivals. For example, in 2011, VicenteZambada Niebla—a high-ranking member of the notorious Sinaloa drug cartel—claimed that federalagents granted him immunity and a virtual licenseto smuggle cocaine into the U.S. in exchange for intelligence on a comparatively minor cartel.

Until the U.S. cleans the corruption from its own ranks and strikes a decisive blowagainst Mexico’s major drug traffickers, winningthe war on drugs will remain out of reach.

And it is a war worth winning. In the U.S. alone, illicit drug use kills nearly 20KAmericans per year and “accounts for $181B in healthcare costs, productivity loss, crime, incarcerationand drug enforcement,” according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

It’s time for the U.S. government to turn its powerful military might against America’s real enemies,rather than chasing down imaginary villains in the Middle East who pose no threat to our way of life.

Keith Johnson in an investigative journalist and host of the Revolt of the Plebs radio program.